THE WHIMS OF FATE IN THE HANDS OF THE GODS In the beginning of time and man, Artemis formed a race of beings and she gave to them the strength and speed and power of the wild that was at her command. And so came the creation of the bellua amoveis; shifters, who could wear the form of both human and beast. As time went on the amoveis flourished and multiplied in the forests of Artemis and defended them from destruction. However in time many of the amoveis came to hate and resent the humans and finally gathered together and attacked the cities of man. Thus began the War of Blood and Fire. The humans were slaughtered by the tens of thousands and cities ran scarlet with the blood of man. Zeus summoned Artemis to him and, revealing to her what her children had done, proclaimed “Behold, the horrors which the abominations you sired have brought” and Artemis was rebuked. And so the goddess cursed them. For those who had begun the slaughter of man she stripped the freedom to change their form at will from them. Since the moon was the goddess’ ally it would forever by the enemy of those rogue amoveis when it was at its strongest. Only during the full moon would they be able to obtain their bestial shape and even then it would be misshapen and ugly. Their shifting, which had once been a great pleasure, would be full of pain and agony. Their touch would be spurned by the mineral silver, for it was the moon’s metal and dear to Artemis. Such was her punishment. And so these cursed amoveis became known as lycans. However, the lycans had tasted human blood and thirsted for it still, if not more than before. And so Artemis went to those of her children who had not participated in the slaughter. And the goddess was wroth with them as she was with their brethren, for although they had not killed, they had offered no resistance and no word to stop their kinsman. And so she punished them as well; with servitude. Beholding them she spoke, “Forever more shall the children of Artemis, the once free amoveis, serve man. To protect them from thy monstrous, cursed brethren shall you be even as dogs to the humans. Denied your other form, incomplete, until you find your destined master. To them shall you render up your loyalty and obedience. In this was shall you and your children and your children’s children forevermore atone.” Thousands of years later, the modern world knows lycans as the monsters from big screen horrors and paperback novels. The old gods no longer gather much attention and the night is lit up so brightly by cities that sometimes the full moon can’t even be seen. But there are those, the descendents of those first lycans who feel it, and are subject to the pain of its influence, and who still hate humans and thirst for their blood. Violent murders. Missing people. Dismembered bodies. All acts of the lycans who even still thrive, hidden in the modern world. But there are those dedicated to hunting and destroying this threat. The descendent of the bound amoveis and the humans they serve, known as tamers. For centuries these hunters have defended the humans against the rouge lycan attacks until, in 1985, it seemed as if the lycan threat was destroyed and the creatures extict. Then, in august of 2006, the mutilated body of a sixteen year old girl was found in an alley behind a meat shop. The girl appeared as if she’d been viciously mauled by some kind of large animal—a wolf or a bear. The next attack was on an amoveis and tamers pair. Their bodies were sent to the headquarters of Silverbane, with a message of two words scrawled in crimson ink: Blood Moon. It’s been just over a year since the rise of Blood Moon. Lycan attacks have become more frequent, both from rebels and those with the shadowy Blood Moon. The anti-lycan organization has been desperately trying to build up its ranks once more and find amoveis and tamersbefore Blood Moon does. It’s a race to save lives and prevent the extinction of the last defense humans have against this ancient threat. A New Moon is rising on mankind.